Confirmed Dead Due to Hurricane Florence

The 11 p.m. ET National Hurricane Center update warned of "catastrophic freshwater flooding" in parts of North and SC, and of continuing life-threatening storm surges and strong winds overnight as Florence moves slowly west-southwestward over extreme eastern SC.

The hurricane hit the coast around 7:15 a.m. ET, after being downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 1 storm the day before.

In New Bern, population 29,000, flooding on the Neuse River trapped people, and Mayor Dana Outlaw told The Charlotte Observer that about 200 had been rescued by 5 a.m. Residents reached out for help through the night by phone and social media. As forecasters warned the hurricane could lead to potentially catastrophic flooding.

States of emergency have already been declared in both North and SC.

About 10 million people could be affected by the storm and more than one million were ordered to evacuate the coasts of the Carolinas and Virginia, jamming westbound roads and highways for miles.

"Hurricane Florence is powerful, slow and relentless", he said. It's moving north-northeast at 18 miles per hour. The large size of the tree made it hard, Wilmington Fire Department Chief Jon Mason said during a Friday afternoon press conference.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 175 miles from the center of the storm.

"I had a lot of fear initially but I'm glad to be inside and safe", said Zelda Allen, 74, a retired tax accountant from Hampstead, North Carolina, who was riding out the storm at Wilmington's Hotel Ballast with her husband. Significant weakening was expected over the weekend.

The storm is forecast to dump about 18 trillion gallons of rainwater on U.S. soil, most of it in North Carolina, meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted.

The state's transportation secretary, James Trogdon, said the state may see "flood events" that normally only occur once every 1,000 years.

Residents can be seen wading through deep floodwater in New Bern as they attempt to retrieve their belongings.

Storm surges of up to six feet were forecast for Belhaven, North Carolina, where this video was recorded on the night of September 13.

The Wilmington airport had a wind gust clocked at 105 miles per hour (169 kph), the highest since Hurricane Helene in 1958. Rainfall of up to 20 to 40 inches could fall over the next five days in some areas, forecasters say.

"We are expecting several more days of rain and our focus now is getting people away from immediate danger and then we will shift to putting our communities back together", Cooper said Friday.

This landfall has been a long time coming: The hurricane arrived more than two weeks after the National Hurricane Center issued its first advisory for the storm.

USA swimmer dies from suspected shark attack
The attack comes just weeks after a man from NY was severely injured in a shark attack on August 15 at Long Nook Beach in Truro. Chris Hartsgrove, acting deputy chief of Cape Cod National Seashore , said the injuries appeared to be from a shark. 9/16/2018

Hurricane Florence claims several lives in US Photogallery
He said parts of North Carolina had seen storm surges - the bulge of seawater pushed ashore by the hurricane - as high as 10 feet. Sutton Power Station outside Wilmington and that contaminated runoff likely flowed into the plant's cooling pond. 9/16/2018

Kemi Adeosun’s Resignation sparks serious national debate
One day after resigning from her position as finance minister, it is being reported that Kemi Adeosun has left the country. The dual Nigerian and British national did not initially comment on the claims, leading to criticism from her opponents. 9/16/2018

Hurricane Florence deluges Carolinas ahead of Friday landfall
Emergency declarations were in force in Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The hurricane centre said Florence will approach the coast on Friday and linger for a while before rolling ashore. 9/16/2018

The FDA’s crackdown on teen vaping
The FDA will also look closely at "straw purchases", in which adults visit web-based stores and buy in bulk to resell to minors. Last year, the FDA announced that it would delay regulations that could have halted the sales of many e-cigarettes. 9/16/2018

Yes, you should care about the Waffle House index
If the index is red , it means you can start panicking because the Waffle House location has been forced to close its doors. If you've ever traveled on a road trip across the eastern US you've likely seen or stopped by a waffle house restaurant. 9/16/2018

Volkswagen to stop making the Beetle next year
Volkswagen Beetle began its journey in 1938 and since then the company has sold more than 33 million units around the world. Passenger auto sales have been plunging in the U.S.in recent years as American preferences shift to larger vehicles. 9/16/2018

The Latest News and Data About Ethanol Production
Oil prices had their worst day in nearly a month Thursday, hurt by the latest signs that OPEC is ramping up production. It expects demand growth of 1.41 million barrels a day in 2019, revising downwards previous projections by 20,000 bpd. 9/16/2018